It is hard to believe now that four years ago the winner of this year’s best bank for central and eastern Europe, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), was on the brink of disaster and facing calls to dismantle its regional network.

The region’s best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises is Bancolombia.

Variety has always been the hallmark of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BAML) financing strength, and the 12 months under review were no exception. With strong deal volumes across a range of asset classes and deal types, and a presence on some of the banner transactions of the year, the firm wins the award for North America’s best bank for financing.

If there is one refrain that crops up when some Morgan Stanley executives talk about their business, it is “critical judgement”. It refers to those key moments in a deal when the firm’s advice will be the defining factor in determining success. Time and again in the last year it has got these moments right, making it the US’s best investment bank.

Latin America’s best bank for advisory is Goldman Sachs. The bank has continued with its strategy to deliver highly complex, large-scale deals that set it apart from the local and international competition.

Despite the talk of how poorly European banks are performing compared with the Americans – and the relative environment has indeed got worse over last year – there are some banks in the region that can match and even beat those in the US in terms of their business models and financial results.

In investment banking, the first quarter of this year capped a particularly difficult period in the markets; one that has hit Europe and European firms hardest.

Digital banking brings opportunities – especially so for startups. Unencumbered by bricks and mortar branches – as well other fixed costs associated with the traditional banks – many purely digital firms have achieved impressive growth.

Economic globalization has created a complex web of global supply chains that are reflected in the trade and cash management needs of regional and international corporates.